Get ready for Trevorpalooza!

University of Michigan football player Maurice Hurst, Jr., who struck up a friendship with Trevor Sullivan at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans at the Sept. 20 Trevorpalooza festival.(Photo: Sullivan family)

Most kids start out their first year in high school meeting new friends and finding their way around the hallways.

Trevor Sullivan is starting his freshman year at Groves High School waiting for a new heart.

The 14-year-old Southfield teenager was diagnosed in February with congenital heart failure and is on a waiting list at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor for a transplant. It’s a tough road for a young man to take, but so far he’s holding up well.

“He had to go back into the hospital yesterday afternoon after being home for two or three weeks,” his dad, Phil Sullivan, said Thursday. “We weren’t expecting to take him back so soon, but it’s the nature of the beast with heart failure.”

On Sunday, Sept. 20, an all-day musical and family event called Trevorpalooza is being held at the Southfield Pavilion to help defray some of the mounting medical bills ... and to give an emotional boost to Trevor and his family.

The events runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with a variety of local bands taking the stage throughout the day. Plus, there will be lots of activities geared toward kids to keep them busy.

Several football players from the University of Michigan, along with Les Gold of Hardcore Pawn, will be there to sign autographs and take photographs. Flutterby the Clown will do face painting and balloon sculptures from 3-9 p.m.

Marie Watson of Southfield, whose son was in Cub Scouts with Trevor, is the driving force behind Trevorpalooza.

“The Sullivans are such a great family and this year has been so tough for all of them. Trevor is such a brave kid and I just wanted to do something practical to help them financially, as well as hopefully give them a wonderful day,” Watson said.

Julie Austin is another Cub Scout mom and member of the Team Trevor committee that’s putting together the event.

“They have four kids in the family and Trevor is the oldest. So you know there’s a lot of juggling going on right now,” she said. “Trevor is a year older than my son, and a few years back he helped him out at summer camp in the first year. That’s the kind of sweet kid he is.”

•Category 5, also a classic rock cover band, goes on the stage at 6 p.m.

Food, beverages, Team Trevor t-shirts and wristbands will be available for purchase. An organ donor registry will be available on site. Suggested donations to the event are $20 for adults, $10 for children under 12. The pavilion is located within the Southfield Municipal Complex at 26000 Evergreen Road.

If there is a source of strength for the Sullivan family, it comes from the community. In addition to Trevorpalooza, Trevor is an honorary member of the freshman football team at Groves. Already his fellow players and their families have coordinated trips to the Sullivan household to bring over meals.

“He went to one game in August and he sat on the sidelines wearing his jersey,” his dad said. “It was pretty cool to see him there.”

Trevor Sullivan (far right) stands on the sidelines with his Groves High School freshman football teammates.(Photo: Sullivan family)